/blog/The Neighbourly blog | NeighbourlyRead the Neighbourly blog for our latest news, resources and information about our fundraising, volunteering and surplus programmes.
This year we’re excited to be working with Coca-Cola on their campaign “The World Needs More Santas”, bringing the magic of Christmas to life by encouraging the embodiment of Santa’s spirit of generosity, goodwill and kindness.
The Coca-Cola Truck Tour is well known for capturing the attention of the nation, and this year they will be continuing their mission of giving with a host of interactive activities for visitors to the Truck to immerse themselves in. As well as gifting areas, gamified experiences, prizes and photo opportunities, visitors will be invited to take part in the ‘Discover Your Inner Santa’ quiz, inspired by Coca-Cola’s TV advert, to find out whether they are a Jolly-Giving Santa, a Merry-Making Santa, the Neighbourly Santa, or the Heart Warming Santa and inspire individuals to embrace this archetype and the spirit of giving this Christmas.
£100,000 fund to be donated to Neighbourly good causes across the 17 cities that the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour will be visiting
As part of our ongoing partnership with Coca-Cola, they will be further supporting the work of local charities with a volunteering scheme and £100,000 fund, to be donated via the Neighbourly Foundation to social-impact focused volunteering partners and good causes across the 17 cities that the Coca-Cola Christmas Truck Tour will be visiting.
The first stop is Glasgow, on Friday 24th November, where the Neighbourly hero cause is REFUWEEGEE, a charity that has been warmly welcoming refugees and asylum seekers to Glasgow, and Scotland since 2015. At the heart of the organisation is a desire to treat displaced people with dignity and care. The charity does this through providing a safe space for drop-in, emergency food and toiletry packs, a free clothes and household shop, English classes, art-therapy and free haircuts, amongst other activities.
Here at Neighbourly, we’re looking forward to visiting the Truck when it stops in Bristol, supporting SENSE FAMILY CENTRE WOODSIDE, a national disability charity that has been helping people with complex communication needs to be understood, connected and valued for over 60 years. With a simple mission to make sure no one with complex communication needs is isolated, left out or unable to fulfil their potential, Sense supports children, young people and adults in their home, the community and at its centres, from education to transitioning to adulthood through holidays, arts, sport and wellbeing programmes.
If you would like to help Coca-Cola and Neighbourly deliver acts of kindness to those that need it most in the local community, you can donate to the fund using the link below or visit one of the Truck Tour stops to donate via the QR codes available. Stay tuned for the full Truck schedule on their socials, @CocaColaEU (Instagram) and @CocaCola_GB (Twitter).
In response to our most recent community survey Neighbourly has launched the Warm Communities Fund to provide targeted support to local charities and community groups in our network who are providing ‘warm banks’, food donations and low-cost-to-prepare meals up and down the country to those who need it most.
Research shows that one in every five people in the UK is living in relative poverty, and food insecurity is on the rise.
As Neighbourly’s recent survey of community charities demonstrates, the cost-of-living crisis means that demand for support is growing while the availability of funding and other forms of support is decreasing:
50% are planning to provide "warm banks" this winter
65% have a seen a drop in financial donations
63% are aiming to provide more food that requires little or no energy to prepare
The average energy bill for community charities is expected to rise by 119% (£7,600 p/a to £16,700)
This shortfall will have a direct and damaging impact on the communities served by these charities and groups.
The Neighbourly Warm Communities Fund (via the Neighbourly Foundation, charity 1189514) has been set up to enable individuals and organisations to make donations which will be distributed over the winter period and beyond. The campaign will be “needs-led” with micro-grants provided to local charities and community groups in our 22,000+ UK & Ireland network.
Through our work, we know that small charities and good causes know the needs of their community better than anyone else, and are able to support them in the most impactful ways. If you would like to find out more about the fund, make a donation or a business pledge, follow the link to our webpage below.
Aldi’s Christmas 2022 TV advert is here, featuring their partnership with Neighbourly alongside last winter’s festive phenomenon Kevin the Carrot and a cameo from Marcus Radishford. Echoing the same powerful sentiment “make Christmas amazing for everyone”, the ad sees Kevin the carrot embark on a new, yet familiar, Christmas adventure.
Neighbourly is delighted to feature in the advert, which highlights the work we’ve done with Aldi since 2019 distributing community grants as well as surplus food from all of their UK stores to local small charities and community groups. So far, Aldi has donated over 25 million meals to those in need, including schools, soup kitchens and breakfast clubs.
Additionally, this year Aldi is encouraging their customers and followers to support the Neighbourly Foundation*, to help local communities in need over the winter.
If you, like family member Jasper Carrot, would like to donate some of your pocket money you can click the link below to help local families.
If businesses want their financial donations to charities to have the desired effect for the local communities they seek to support, as well as delivering on their ESG strategy, understanding the local multiplier effect is critical.
In research published in 2003, Ward and Sacks visualised a local economy as a leaky bucket with lots of holes. These holes are typically caused by a lack of investment, infrastructure and jobs, which only get bigger as necessary improvements to improve the local economy are not made. As employment depletes and services deteriorate, more people leave, leading to a downward spiral of decline.
This is a tale familiar to many areas that have fallen into deprivation over the years and the subject of the Government’s recent Levelling Up white paper published in February 2022. But the same principle flipped on its head also demonstrates how a local community can prosper by endeavouring to keep resources within that area.
For instance, if you spend £10 with the local greengrocer, they might put £7 in the till and spend £3 on lunch in a local cafe. The cafe owner might put £2 in the till and purchase a pint of milk from the local corner shop on the way home. While a simple representation, it shows how value can stay in the local community.
You might think you have only spent money with the greengrocer, but it has benefited the cafe owner and the family who runs the corner shop, thereby enabling all of them to continue offering their services to the community. By retaining and circulating money within our communities, we can help build prosperous, thriving economies across the country with more employment, better infrastructure and improved opportunities.
Recirculating prosperity
The local multiplier creates impact in three ways. Direct impact is spending done by a business in the local economy to operate the company, such as inventory, utilities, equipment and employee salaries. Indirect impact happens as the money local businesses spend in other local businesses recirculates. Induced impact refers to the additional consumer spending that happens as employees, business owners and others spend their income in the local economy.
The same is true for the benefit of donating to local charities with every pound donated to a local good cause potentially washing around that community multiple times before it bounces back out again. Local good causes are at the coalface of community action, made up almost entirely of workers or volunteers directly involved in frontline services. Rising social consciousness is making employees and customers increasingly adept at spotting attempts at CSR box-ticking or ‘purpose washing’, so it’s crucial that businesses are ensuring their donations are making the impacts they’re intended to make.
Localisation is critical for the future existence of all businesses. If they don’t look after the local community around them and the health and prosperity of the environment in which their customers and employees reside, their business will be negatively impacted. Healthy local communities ultimately enable everything else to function successfully in society.
Download our full report ‘Corporate Donations: The Power of Local’ for more on the business benefits of financial donations to local good causes.
Today is Giving Tuesday - an international day where people are encouraged to take something positive from the year and make a difference by giving back to charity.
This Christmas is expected to be one of the busiest yet for the food banks, good causes and community groups looking after those most in need in our local communities - with rising fuel costs and the removal of the Universal Credit uplift tipping more families and vulnerable people into crisis.
Here at Neighbourly, we’ve been working with businesses like Aldi, Samsung, Sainsbury’s and Heineken to help them make a difference this festive season.
To celebrate Giving Tuesday, we’re highlighting some of these giving campaigns to help share what is being done - along with some tips on how individuals can offer a helping hand in their communities too.
Aldi - 1.8M meals
With a little help from Kevin the Carrot and Marcus Radishford, Aldi has pledged to donate a huge 1.8M meals through the festive season, made up of surplus food donations to the causes that are linked to individual stores, as well as financial donations to causes supporting families.
You can hear more about Aldi’s pledge (and see the Neighbourly delivery cart!) in their pun-tastic Christmas ad.
As well as Aldi’s individual pledge, supermarkets Sainsbury’s, Lidl and M&S will continue to run their food surplus redistribution programme through the Neighbourly platform - donating thousands of meals worth of food over the festive period, with extra donations on Christmas eve and New Year’s eve.
Christmas is often a time when people consider giving back by volunteering. But through Neighbourly’s employee volunteering programmes, staff from the likes of Danone, Samsung, Cocacola EP, Cadent and M&G have been offering their spare time to local good causes throughout the year. As we enter winter, many are encouraging even more employees to get involved and make a difference.
Staff at M&G will be partnering with causes supporting those experiencing loneliness and isolation this Christmas - taking part in Covid-safe card and letter writing to boost people’s wellbeing and make them feel cared for.
Meanwhile Cadent’s new social value volunteering scheme, launched this November, will see employees volunteering on everything from packing festive food parcels and restoring peatlands to transforming spaces into hubs for education.
As the UK’s leading pub, cider and beer business, Heineken is a passionate supporter of the great British pub and the important role pubs play in communities all around the UK.
Following a pause during the pandemic, Brewing Good Cheer is now in its fifth year, and is one the longest running community giving campaigns Heineken has run through the Neighbourly platform.
This year’s Brewing Good Cheer programme will see Heineken working with their pubs and with 140 good causes and their beneficiaries to support people that have experienced social isolation in the last year.
Penguin Book Donations
Since 2020, Penguin has been donating books to good causes, community groups and food banks to help provide equal access to reading.
So far Penguin has donated over 120,000 books and they are not stopping there. The publisher has already connected with a number of causes through the Neighbourly platform and will be donating hundreds more books to supplement festive food parcels this year.
Grants and funding
On top of donating surplus food to good causes, Sainsbury’s ‘Helping Everyone Eat Better’ grants programme has been supporting hundreds of local food charities and good causes as nominated by Sainsbury’s staff. These grants will continue to be paid out through December and beyond, helping good causes meet the demand of the festive season.
But as any hard working volunteer or charity staff member will know, funding and grants offer critical sources of financial support to keep services running throughout the year. In 2021 alone, Neighbourly has facilitated a number of grant and giving programmes, partnering with the B&Q Foundation, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Heineken, Virgin Media O2, Southern Co-op, RSA, Cadent, Coca-Cola EP, Danone and M&G to distribute vital funds to local communities covering a wide range of impact themes.
How can individuals support their local communities?
As an individual, there are plenty of ways you can support local good causes and people in your community. Here are two easy things you can do this Giving Tuesday:
Make a donation
Last year, following the success of the Neighbourly Community Fund which supported over 3,000 local good causes through the Covid-19 pandemic, we set up registered charity - the Neighbourly Foundation - which continues to channel funding and grants to Neighbourly’s network of over 18,000 local good causes.
If you usually make a charitable donation on Giving Tuesday or over Christmas, but aren’t sure where best to donate this year, donating to the Neighbourly Foundation is a great way to ensure you are helping local communities and people in need across the UK and Ireland - supporting everything from mental health services to food poverty and homelessness.
In addition, if you're an M&S Sparks member or card holder, you can set the Neighbourly Foundation as your charity of choice. Then, for every purchase you make at M&S, a donation will be made.
If you prefer, you can also donate directly to individual good causes registered on the Neighbourly platform. Have a look through the good causes that have set up fundraising pots.
Give to your local Food Bank
On your next trip to the supermarket, don’t forget to buy an item or two to pop in one of the many customer donation points available at Aldi, Lidl and Southern Co-op.
Aldi’s donation points also accept items from any brand of supermarket, so are perfect for those unopened and in-date dry goods and tins you might have in your cupboards that would otherwise go unused.
You can also donate directly to your local food bank or community group. Use the Neighbourly search function to find your nearest good cause. Those running campaigns for donations of food or gifts often share exactly what they need most via social channels like Facebook - so don’t forget to check them out to see what’s on their wishlist.
Thanks for getting involved in Giving Tuesday. To find out the latest Neighbourly news this Christmas and beyond, follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
This month the B&Q Foundation hit a milestone £1.3M in funds donated to local good causes.
Through a Neighbourly grants management programme, the B&Q Foundation has so far awarded grants of up to £5000 to over 250 registered charities that help to make life better for people in need our local communities.
From improving the safety of a home for someone with a disability, to providing residential support for people with no home of their own – the organisations it backs are making a difference to those who don’t have access to what most of us take for granted.
We caught up with five organisations, including those featured in the video below - and some of which were the first to receive a grant from the B&Q Foundation in late 2020, to find out what these vital funds have meant for them and those they support in their local communities.
The Sick Children’s Trust
Check out the video below which tells the story of B&Q Foundation’s work with The Sick Children's Trust's Eckersley House in London.
Roundabout
Roundabout is a youth housing charity based in Sheffield that supports young care leavers at risk of homelessness.
After receiving a £5000 grant from the B&Q Foundation, they were able to complete the refurbishment of a new property ‘Glencoe Road’ that will enable the charity to support an estimated 14 young people a year with safe and supportive move-on accommodation.
"This project will give [young people] the chance to turn their lives around”
Neil Marshall, Group Living Manager at Roundabout told us: “I feel really proud of what we’ve achieved collectively at Glencoe Road. It’s been a challenge through lockdown because of government restrictions and access to stock, but I’m really happy with the level of provision and the finish.”
Ben Keegan, CEO of Roundabout added: “This project means so much to us at Roundabout and so much to the young people who live here. The young people have had such difficult lives to get to this point. This amazing project will really give them the chance to turn their lives around.”
Woolwich Service Users Project
WSUP is a grass-roots project, run entirely by volunteers, that provides both practical and emotional support to those seeking help in the local community.
In September 2020, they were able to secure a new location in which to base their community support centre but were in need of cash to carry out vital refurbishment and repair work in order to re-open to the public.
"This is transformational for our charity and the people who benefit from our work”
Tracy Stringfellow, Chair at WSUP explained: “The B&Q Foundation’s generous grant contributed to the second phase of our capital programme for our new building. The funds enabled us to complete our decoration and the building now looks amazing.
“It has gone from a wet, leaky building with green stuff growing up the walls, to a bright, watertight space with floors. This is transformational for our charity and the people who benefit from our work.”
Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice
Northern Ireland Children's Hospice is the only service of its kind in Northern Ireland. In September 2020, they received a grant of £3,690 to help them build a Summer House in the gardens of Horizon House, their specialist hospice in Newtownabbey. This is a disability-accessible area that will help children with life-limiting conditions enjoy the outdoors and will benefit the children they look after, their families, and the Children’s Hospice staff.
The majority of the children who rely on Horizon House are immobile or are wheelchair users. They often don't have the ability to investigate and play in their surroundings like most of their peers and generally spend very little time outdoors. With this Summer House, the Hospice nurses can help them safely experience more activities outdoors, protected from the sun and other elements.
Grace Stewart, Head of Children’s Services at Northern Ireland Hospice, said: “We’d like to thank the B&Q Foundation for the funding. Being able to build our summer house is going to make a real difference to the children. We want to focus on them living each day to its fullest, and providing a space that helps the children spend more time outdoors is vital in helping them feel relaxed and comfortable while providing sensory stimulus.”
The Haven Wolverhampton
The Haven Wolverhampton supports women and children vulnerable to abuse, and homelessness. At any one time, the charity supports approximately 67 women and 100 children across Wolverhampton through anonymously located accommodation, and also supports those living in their own homes.
The B&Q Foundation gave a grant of £4,888 to the Haven to help them to furnish a new safe house property, which will increase their capacity to provide vital support for women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
While some women enjoy the communal and social benefits of a refuge, for some women, moving into shared accommodation is a huge barrier to leaving their abuser.
“Staying here has helped me sleep better as I feel safe”
“Lisa” experienced psychological and physical abuse at the hands of her husband. She was scared to wake up in the morning because the abuse started straight away. Lisa and her 11-year old daughter were living in fear and Lisa felt that moving into a shared refuge would heighten her anxiety levels. As such, she received support in a Haven safe house.
She said: “I now see a future for us and staying here has helped me sleep better as I feel safe. It has really supported me and my daughter to become independent and live a full life. We now have a quality of life that we didn’t have before. My daughter is over the moon - she has told me she loves it here.”
Sarah Abbiss, Grants Manager at the Haven said: “We are delighted that the B&Q Foundation has been able to make a grant to furnish a safe house for women and children fleeing domestic abuse. This will mean we are able to support more women and children who desperately need to escape harm's way. They will have a warm, safe, and cosy place to live and get plenty of good nights’ sleep until they are ready to take their next steps.
"They will also have access to a range of wraparound support from The Haven, such as counselling and therapies to help them to overcome the trauma of what they have experienced.”
What’s next
Whilst the B&Q Foundation grants have already had a phenomenal impact so far, the fund continues to support new charities as the months go on.
Registered charities in the UK looking for support for a project to improve homes or community space for those most in need in the local community, can register interest on B&Q’s Neighbourly page here.
At the start of October, Neighbourly partnered with Southern Co-op, RSA, Cadent, Coca-Cola EP, Danone and M&G to launch Seeds of Change - bringing both employee volunteer support and £100k worth of funding to hundreds of local greening and climate projects across the UK and Ireland.
Since then, almost half of the Seeds of Change grants have been paid to over 100 local good causes and, on top of the environmental benefit, those causes estimate the projects will bring a positive impact to a combined total of over half a million people.
With an array of different types of charities, communities and good causes involved, projects in receipt of a grant vary across a number of environmental categories - with some covering multiple types.
Check out the chart below to see the breakdown of project types so far.
Now the two weeks of COP26 is complete, the real work begins - so we caught up with a few good causes to hear about their greening and climate plans and what they hope to achieve in their local community through Seeds of Change.
Queen Alexandra College
Queen Alexandra College in Birmingham is a specialist charity for people with disabilities aged 16-25 years. With their Seeds of Change grant, they plan to build a living wall in the college grounds to build a habitat for a range of insects and pollinators.
"We hope to help raise awareness amongst our students about habitat creation and supporting local biodiversity”
Sarah Caldwell, Grants and Fundraising Manager at Queen Alexandra College tells us: “We are making a conscious effort to be green in any areas that we can be. By building a living wall along one of our larger on campus buildings, we hope to help raise awareness amongst our students about habitat creation and how we can support local biodiversity.”
St Mary’s Church
As part of community-focussed church St Mary’s mission to become a greener church, and its commitment to become an Eco Church under the A Rocha programme, they are re-wilding their churchyard in Wendover, Aylesbury.
“[We’d like to] incorporate the installation of bird boxes, a wildflower meadow and beehive”
Paul Morning, Project Lead and Chair of Climate Action Wendover explains: “This is a space that has a wonderful potential for biodiversity - and we have already invested a great deal of effort in greening the space, planting new trees and hedgerows, and creating wild spaces, bug hotels and better composting facilities.
“We will be using the Neighbourly Seeds of Change grant towards the next phase, which will incorporate the installation of bird boxes, a wildflower meadow and beehive - encouraging a greater diversity of wildlife.
“We also want to provide information signs across the churchyard to tell our many visitors what we are doing to enhance biodiversity and why. This is an important part of our work - and we hope it will engage the many generations who visit and enjoy our churchyard.”
Heart of BS13
Heart of BS13 is a local charity with impressive ambitions. By engaging local residents its ultimate aim is to transform food waste recycling in South Bristol, turning a waste management problem into an organic composting, income generating and vocational training solution and opportunity for unemployed residents.
Using the Seeds of Change grant, they will be running an artist-led climate education workshop for school age children focusing on how to recycle, reuse and repurpose household items that would otherwise be thrown away - bringing new information to children in a fun, creative and engaging way.
“We are focusing on the hearts and minds of children in BS13”
Exploring the motivation behind the project, Kirsty Hammond, Climate Action Development Practitioner at Heart of BS13 tells us: “In BS13, single use plastic waste is high and food waste is barely recycled. At Heart of BS13 we are focusing on supporting our community to take straightforward actions that can reduce waste overall by closing the food waste loop and moving away from single use plastics.
“We are focusing on the hearts and minds of children in BS13 as we know that they take what they have learned about carbon emissions and the actions that everyone can make, back to their homes and use 'pester power' to change behaviours within the household.”
Tree Action UK CIC
[Photo Credit: Adieu & Worthing Council]
TreeAction UK is a community interest company in Hove that organises tree planting projects on school grounds, as well as working with local authorities to take students to local parks.
The grant they have received from Seeds of Change will enable them to help them to work with children to plant 60 new trees at a local school - as the plan below shows.
Ricky Purnell, Director of TreeAction UK explains: “Planting a wide variety of trees promotes biodiversity whilst acting to offset the carbon footprint of the school and community.
“At the same time engagement and responsibility teaches the students about the environment, climate challenge, and improves their mental wellbeing”
As the Seeds of Change programme progresses, some of our business partners will be running employee volunteering programmes to support causes directly on projects where they are based.
And with the four causes in this blog representing just a fraction of the projects we’ll be supporting through Seeds of Change, we’re excited to see the level of impact this kind of programme will have for local communities, the environment and the climate - from the ground up.
Seeds of Change grant applications are now closed to good causes but we’ll be publishing regular updates here on the blog, as well as on our social channels: LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. If you’re a business looking to partner with Neighbourly to distribute funding to local causes, find out more on our ‘Donations’ page or get in touch to book a demo.
Neighbourly has today launched its new Seeds of Change programme, bringing together support from Southern Co-op, RSA, Cadent, Coca-Cola EP, Danoneand M&G to help small charities and good causes have a bigger positive environmental impact for local communities.
"Seeds of Change gives businesses and local communities a way to come together in the lead up to COP26 and beyond"
Seeds of Change will enable businesses to donate volunteer time and/or grants to small charities and local causes across the UK, helping causes to create green spaces for local communities and reduce their CO2 emissions.
It’s critical to involve community causes in accelerating responses to the pressing environmental and societal challenges we face", says Steve Butterworth, CEO at Neighbourly. "Seeds of Change gives businesses and local communities a way to come together in the lead up to COP26 and beyond – translating the enormity of the climate crisis into meaningful action at a local level.”
Holly Bramble, Community Lead at Southern Co-op, adds: "Urgent action is needed to tackle climate change. We already have our own ambitious goals across our retail, coffee and end of life businesses but we can't stop there. Co-operation is essential and we hope this latest funding will act as a springboard for lots of local causes and charities to take action and have a direct impact on carbon reduction. We're excited to be working with Neighbourly to make a positive impact on all of our futures."
“Our employees are itching to get back to supporting the charities close to their hearts"
Support will be directed to a wide range of vetted local causes – including mental health charities, community centres, youth organisations, schools and environmental volunteer groups – who can deliver measurable, high-impact outcomes.
Green spaces are proven to support people’s wellbeing by reducing depression, anxiety and stress. But only 35% in the lowest-earning households in England are currently within a ten-minute walk of a natural green space, compared with 59% of the highest earning households.
Delivering seeds of change
Seeds of Change will enable national businesses to direct targeted support to communities where environmental changes are needed the most by engaging and supporting local causes and community groups in these areas.
Micro-grants will be directed to local causes for planting and environmental activities, using an existing seed-fund of around £100,000 from a selection of Neighbourly partners. In response to almost two thirds of local charities in Neighbourly’s network saying they need volunteer support with their greening programmes, businesses will provide their employees with opportunities to give their time and skills to help with environmental projects. Businesses will also engage with good causes to support them with climate education programmes.
Head of External Communications at insurer RSA, Alex Jones, tells us: “Our employees are itching to get back to supporting the charities close to their hearts by volunteering their time, skills and fundraising efforts to make a real difference to their communities. Seeds of Change is a fantastic scheme to facilitate this work and by targeting the creation of green spaces can enhance communities across the UK.”
Commitment to carbon reduction
New Neighbourly research also shows that over two thirds of local charities (66%) think it is very important that they commit to carbon reduction or carbon offsetting measures.
For businesses, Seeds of Change presents a real opportunity to offer support at a local level. Hannah Cornick, Head of Sustainability & Social Innovation at Danone UK & Ireland, says: "We believe the health of people and the health of the planet are interconnected, so we’re proud to back Seeds of Change as a tangible way to ensure greener neighbourhoods while also providing important wellbeing benefits for local people.
"Danone UK & Ireland is taking action to accelerate a low carbon, greener future across our operations. And while we may be a global business, our approach is fundamentally local – so we know it’s important for responsible businesses to look beyond their own operations to support charities and local community organisations to drive change from the ground up. Collective actions like the Seeds of Change programme can really make a measurable positive difference for our communities."
Environmental Grants
As part of Seeds of Change, environmental grants will be administered by the Neighbourly Foundation, launched in 2020 as an independent charity arm to respond to an increase in local need during the pandemic. Since launch, the Foundation has provided more than £3.6 million in micro-grants to over 4,800 local charities and community causes, supporting an estimated 1.6 million people each week.
Successful causes will be vetted and selected through an application process on the Neighbourly platform. Grants will be awarded for activity delivered from October 2021 to Spring 2022 that will have a sustainable and direct impact on carbon reduction, or will protect natural habitats and local biodiversity. All activity and outcomes will be measured and reported.
Steve comments: “If we really want to build back greener and better, we must prioritise local action built on local insights. We’re confident that Seeds of Change can help to ensure healthier, happier and thriving communities and we’re calling for any other businesses wanting to support local communities through environmental programmes to join us. To deliver big goals and achieve maximum impact we must think local.”
Neighbourly and its business partners are calling for any businesses that want to support their local communities to back the Seeds of Change programme. To get involved, click the blue button below and get in touch or visit the Seeds of Change campaign page for more information.
This month we were pleased to announce an exciting new partnership with Virgin Media O2.
At the start of June, Virgin Media and O2 formally combined to form Virgin Media O2 - now the UK's largest mobile network with a broadband network - and they've set up a brand new 'Together Fund' worth £500,000 to support local charities and good causes as the nation begins to emerge from the pandemic.
Neighbourly is incredibly proud to be partnering with what is now one of the biggest businesses in the UK to help them deliver much needed funds to local causes championing community spirit, belonging and togetherness across the UK.
Following a round of applications, 400 local good causes have been allocated a grant from the fund - with many of them nominated by Virgin Media O2 staff themselves.
Thank You Day
To kick things off - Neighbourly, Virgin Media O2 and all the good causes involved will be supporting the nation’s first Thank You Day, coordinated by the Together Coalition on the 4th July.
Thank You Day is where millions come together in a small way in their local communities to give back and say thank you - to friends, family, neighbours, volunteers, postal workers, NHS staff and everyone in between that has helped us get through what has been an unprecedented time.
As part of this, many of the good causes in receipt of a Together Fund grant will be hosting their own micro-events to say thanks.
One cause taking part on the 4th July is The Spitz Charitable Trust which enriches opportunities for participation in live music in care homes and day centres.
In Bridgeside Lodge Care Home (BSL) in Islington, where the charity’s office is based, Spitz has been running outdoor live music sessions for elderly residents - using a tablet to relay the music to those unable to be outside - helping reduce feelings of isolation and loneliness.
“ [Spitz staff] have ensured the continuity of happiness, emotional recreation and well-being”
Fatma Makalo, General Manager at BSL explains: "We've seen the special bond the Spitz staff have built with our residents. During the pandemic it's been a very dark time so it's been really important that we have some sort of joy. We knew the residents and staff loved music, that's why I felt the Spitz needed to spend more time at Bridgeside Lodge. It's ensured the continuity of happiness, emotional recreation and well-being."
Spitz will be using part of the grant they received from the Together Fund to purchase two more tablets so that their live broadcasts can reach more isolated people unable to attend their sessions in person - including a special Thank You Day music event at the care home on the 4th July itself.
Bringing communities together
Not only will the Virgin Media O2 Together fund enable good causes to celebrate and say thank you on the 4th of July, but the fund will enable them to invest in initiatives that will bring communities together and improve wellbeing in the longer-term.
Live Unlimited, a charity that supports looked-after children and young care leavers in Barnet, will be using the funding towards their Outdoor Club.
Outdoor Club gets looked-after children aged 9-13 outside enjoying forest school activities. These include using tools, making fires, cooking on a fire, climbing trees, swinging in hammocks and generally hanging out and having fun. The added benefit for these young looked after children is that Outdoor Club enables them to be around others who've experienced trauma and understand what they are going through.
“This is the first thing he has loved doing in a group”
Despite being only recently piloted, Outdoor Club has had a tremendous impact on the children involved. Foster Carer Mellie said: "He is absolutely loving it. It's the highlight of his week. He is autistic and doesn't join in things, preferring to be by himself, and this is the first thing he has loved doing in a group.
"The first time he went it was raining and I was worried he wouldn't like it, but he came back muddy and filthy and talked about all the things he'd done. It's just what he needed and has made a real difference to him."
Get involved
Whilst the Together Fund grants have now been fully allocated and applications closed, good causes and community groups can still get involved by celebrating Thank You Day on Sunday 4th July.
For inspiration, head to the Thank You Day website for guides and ideas for creating a special day. If you are doing something to celebrate Thank You Day, don’t forget to shout about it on social media with the hashtag #ThankYouDay and tag @nbrly and @VMO2news on Twitter or NbrlyUK on Facebook.
If you’re a business that’s looking to find out more about the Neighbourly platform and our grant management programmes, please click the blue ‘Info for businesses’ button below.
RSA, one of the largest insurers in the UK, has launched a new £250,000 grant programme to support charities that are working to improve risk education, as well as those helping to tackle climate change and environmental related issues.
The programme, which will be managed via the Neighbourly platform, is open to applications from registered charities, community groups and community interest companies until 2 July 2021. RSA plans to send grants of up to £10,000 to successful applicants by the end of July 2021.
The news comes during Small Charities Week between 14 – 19 June, which celebrates the essential work of the UK’s small charity sector who make an invaluable contribution to the lives of millions of individuals, communities and causes across the UK and the rest of the world.
"We want to support charities who are playing a critical role in their communities"
To secure a grant, charities will need to demonstrate their projects share RSA’s ambition to improve risk education for road, home, cycle and online safety, as well as child safety, ideally driving behaviour change. It is also open to charities with programmes that are tackling climate change, conservation and offsetting carbon emissions.
Applicants must be based in the UK or the Republic of Ireland (including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man), and RSA is looking to support projects that will be completed within six months of receiving the grant.
Laura Spiers, Head of Corporate Responsibility at RSA, said: “It’s been a tough year for charities, particularly small local causes, and we hope our new grant programme helps provide them with some of the investment they need to further build on the excellent work they do.
“Through the programme, we want to support charities who are playing a critical role in their communities. With RSA being one of the largest insurers in the UK, tackling climate change and helping people manage their risks in areas like road safety are hugely important to us and the work of innovative local charities can really help to move the dial. We look forward to reviewing applications after the window closes on 2 July.”
Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly, said: “If we really want to build back better, local action built on local insights must come first – never has there been a greater need to respect and respond to the ingenuity and expertise of local charities and community groups. The UK faces major societal and environmental challenges, and small charities must be supported to ensure that communities not only survive but thrive.
"Small charities have been the backbone of our communities throughout the pandemic – and they will help to shape our recovery, as well as having a vital role in combatting the climate crisis as we head towards the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals. We hope RSA’s new grant programme can help to enable and inspire small charities to continue their brilliant work.”
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